


valentine's day

by postalcoast



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29325651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/postalcoast/pseuds/postalcoast
Summary: okay just for reference:horseboxed chocolates(that link might expire if walmart takes it off their website later, hopefully the horse one doesn't but idk)anddd didn't look up conversation hearts bc its just conversation hearts
Relationships: John Marston/Arthur Morgan
Comments: 10
Kudos: 32





	valentine's day

**Author's Note:**

> okay just for reference:
> 
> [horse](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/f159e6b1-450a-4a61-855e-74b7e8aa883b.299ac54a1cb304fbc2d2f7d568be54be.jpeg?odnWidth=612&odnHeight=612&odnBg=ffffff)
> 
> [boxed chocolates](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hershey-Miniatures-Assorted-Milk-Chocolate-Candy-Valentine-s-Day-Gift-6-4-Oz-Heart-Gift-Box/962739847) (that link might expire if walmart takes it off their website later, hopefully the horse one doesn't but idk)
> 
> anddd didn't look up conversation hearts bc its just conversation hearts

Maybe it all starts when Arthur’s standing by the Valentine’s Day display near the checkout line, bored, and with too many items in his hands to pull out his phone and entertain himself.

Honestly, he hadn’t even noticed the holiday approaching. New Years came and gone, then January bled into February all the same, and there wasn’t much holding Arthur to keep track of it. Just a little bit closer to Spring, and Arthur eagerly awaited its arrival. He hated the cold. 

The bitter reminder that came with every Valentine’s Day of his and Mary’s breakup had faded. Sure, he still thinks about her, and the few Valentine’s Days he spent with her, but the giant hearts and cupids don’t quite hold the sting they once did. 

Maybe that’s a sign he’s moved on, one final nail in the coffin. 

John, on the other hand, well...Arthur could say perhaps the big celebration of romantic love still rubs a bit of salt in the wound he’s carried since he and Abigail broke up.

Another metaphorical nail in the coffin to their on-again, off-again relationship. Abigail had told him this was it, and she’d been true to her word. 

In all honesty, it was for the best, but it took John a long time to see it that way.

That was nearly two years ago, and while John will admit that they’re better off being friends, he’ll still get this scowl on his face every time he’s reminded of the 14th of February. 

And maybe _that’s_ where it all started. A week or two ago when John had mentioned the holiday quickly approaching. 

“Guess I won’t be gettin’ any candy hearts again this year,” John says from the couch in their apartment. His feet propped up on the coffee table, flicking through the channels on the tv, and his voice holds this sort of amusement to it. Sort of a bitter amusement, verging on something along the lines of dispirited. 

Arthur steps over the barrier of John’s legs to get to the other side of the couch and sits down with a huff. “You an’ me, both.”

And they’d pretty much left it at that. No other mention of chocolates, flowers, or any other gift that comes along with Valentine’s Day. No mention of the holiday itself.

Until today, when it’s staring Arthur in the face, in the obnoxious form of a bright pink and red giant heart display.

Arthur debates on it for a split second, glancing back to the slowly moving line he’s in and then to the display. It’s out of reach just enough that Arthur would have to get out of line to actually pick anything up from it, or to even get a good look at the stuffed animals and candy sitting on the shelves. 

And then he decides, as the line shifts just an inch in front of him, fuck it. He gets out of line and crosses over towards the display.

It takes a bit of maneuvering, sitting a few items down on the floor beside the display so he can pick something out, then pick everything back up. His arms end up aching a bit when he finally reaches the checkout counter and he really wishes he would’ve just got a buggy, but - oh, well.

A plush horse with a cowboy hat and a matching bandana (Arthur had thought that was too cute to pass up), a big heart-shaped box of chocolates (an assortment of Reese’s, Hershey’s, and Kit Kats - John didn’t particularly enjoy Kit Kats, but Arthur knew he liked Reese’s and Hershey’s well enough and hell, if nothing else, Arthur could eat the Kit Kats), and a small bag of conversation hearts (Arthur remembered John saying _candy hearts,_ and well, he didn’t specify what he meant by that). 

“Uh, what does _‘I filly you’_ mean?” Arthur asks the cashier as she rings up the plush horse. He’s referring to the message on the heart in the horse’s mouth. He could probably make a joke about not looking a gift horse in the mouth with that one if he thought about it long enough. 

The cashier glances down at the stuffed animal before returning her attention to Arthur. “It says ‘I filly _heart_ you’.” 

“Oh,” Arthur chuckles. “That makes sense.”

“It also dances and plays a little song, I think,” the cashier tells him, gesturing to the little button on the horse’s foot. She presses it and a muffled version of Old Town Road starting playing from the stuffed animal. 

And well, that just makes it even better.

***

“John!” Arthur calls into the apartment when he unlocks the door and pushes it open. “You like horses, don’t ya?”

John comes rushing in from the kitchen like he thought Arthur might’ve needed help carrying some stuff in, but stops when he sees Arthur with only a couple of bags in his hands. 

“What?”

“Horses,” Arthur repeats, moving past John and into the kitchen. John follows behind him. “You like horses, don’t you?” 

“I mean, _yeah_ , I guess,” John says from behind him. Arthur sets the bags down on the counter and starts digging through one of them. “Why?” 

Arthur doesn’t answer him, and digs out the stuffed horse and turns around, pushing it into John’s hands. 

Arthur can feel a bit of heat rising in his face watching John right now, and he isn’t sure what that’s about. Sure, he could probably get a bit of a chuckle at the look on John’s face, the utter perplexity in his expression. Brows furrowed together and the corners of his mouth all turned down as he examines the stuffed animal in his hands, like it’s some sort of joke he’s waiting to be filled in on. 

He looks kinda cute like this, Arthur has to admit. And maybe that’s the reason for the flittering, nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. 

“I couldn’t find any squirrels,” Arthur elaborates, and John’s gaze returns to his face, still a bit confused. “I thought the horse was cute, and I know you like horses, too, so.” 

He reaches out and presses the button on the horse’s foot, and it’s a bit awkward, as a muffled, 20-second version of Old Town Road plays. Loud in comparison to the silence held between the two of them, both sets of eyes watching as the stuffed animal squirms in John’s arms. 

“You got me something for Valentine’s Day?” John asks, his voice a bit quiet but steady. Like he’s pacing out his words. 

“Well, yeah,” Arthur shrugs, and damn if his face doesn’t feel like it’s on fire right now. “You said you didn’t think you would get anything, and so I dunno - _oh,_ hang on.” 

Arthur turns back to the bags, grateful for the excuse to hide how flushed he must be, and produces the box of chocolates, along with the bag of conversation hearts. “I got you these too, you said you didn’t think you would get any candy hearts, but I didn’t know which you meant.”

He turns and hands these items to John, and John’s left balancing all three gifts in his arms. He’s got his lips pressed together in a tight line, now, his brows still a bit furrowed, as he glances down at the gifts and then back up at Arthur. 

His voice still has that quiet, paced out edge to it. “I didn’t get _you_ anything, though.”

Hell, if Arthur’s being honest with himself, he didn’t even expect _himself_ to get John anything for Valentine’s Day until only about an hour ago. He definitely wasn’t going into this expecting John to have gifts waiting on him in return. That wasn’t the point of it. That wasn’t why Arthur did it. 

He’d never possessed that “buy something and expect something in return” gifting mentality that so many people had. And neither did John, really. So, the statement confuses him a little.

“I know, it’s fine,” Arthur shrugs again, reaching out to give John a gentle pat on the arm. He lets his hand linger there a bit before pulling it away. “Hell, if you feel _that_ bad about it, you can get me something tomorrow when it all goes on sale.”

John makes a small, amused sound, and it’s nice. Accompanied with a lopsided grin slowly working its way onto John’s face that’s just as nice. Perhaps even nicer. 

“Thank you, Arthur,” John says, and he sounds sincere about it. “Really.” 

If Arthur did this for any reason, it would probably be to see the way John looks right now. Still grinning, a bit pink in the face, his smile growing a bit as he examines the items in his arms. 

He looks happy. Arthur doesn’t see him look that way too often, and it’s nice.

“Don’t mention it,” Arthur turns back to the bags, pulling out items and putting them where they go. He can still feel John lingering behind him so he glances back over his shoulder. “You like ‘em, don’t ya?”

John glances back up at him, and he looks a bit wide-eyed, like perhaps he’d forgot Arthur was still there. The look gets quickly replaced with that warm, happy expression he wore earlier. “Yeah, I love it, Arthur.”

Arthur nods in response, and he can’t help but mirror John’s grin, before turning back to the bags. 

He hears John shuffle behind him and out of the kitchen, assuming he’s going to set his stuff down, and the gentle padding of bare feet against the tiled floors lets Arthur know he’s returned. 

John comes up beside him, helping him empty the bags, and putting the items in their desired location. A familiar, easy routine that helps Arthur let his guard back down. 

John’s busy reorganizing a few things around in the fridge, throwing what expired or empty things left behind that they forgot in the trash, when Arthur glances back at him over his shoulder. 

“Hey, John?” Arthur says, and John turns to peer up at him. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

John’s smiling again, and he stands, leaving the door to the fridge wide open as he crosses the kitchen over to where Arthur stands. 

Arthur doesn’t expect it when John leans in and kisses him. A small, gentle thing. John’s still wearing that same smile when he pulls away, only this time it’s far more contagious. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” John mumbles, and this time, it’s Arthur that leans in and kisses him.

**Author's Note:**

> also that part about Arthur wondering what "I filly you" meant was an actual convo between me and [gwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/providentialeyes) (me not knowing that it was supposed to read "i filly heart you" lmao, i feel arthur's himbo energy super hard sometimes) so thank u again gwen for the inspo for that!!! <3


End file.
